Although residents have until next Tuesday to weigh in, it would take an avalanche of protest letters to stop major sewer rate increases set to take effect July 1.
According to California’s Proposition 218, residents can submit written letters protesting utility rate hikes.
Facing significant increases for use of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant, maintenance of its 140 miles of pipes and various capital improvement projects, Los Altos is proposing a 13% fixed-rate increase for 2023-2024 and 15% hikes annually for the four years following. A sewer rate study presented in February reported that an “average single-family” sewer rate of $46.89 would rise to $101.65 by fiscal year 2027-2028.
Los Altos also levies a “volumetric” rate based on use. Current rates are $2.42 per hundred cubic feet (HCF, equaling 748 gallons of water). Volumetric rates for fiscal year 2023-2024 are projected at $3.30 per HCF, a 36% increase.
As of May 31, the city had received 242 protest letters. The city would need 6,029 letters from its more than 12,000 customers to meet the 50%-plus-one majority needed to stop the increase.
Residents have until the end of a scheduled public hearing Tuesday to submit letters, which must be signed. No emails are counted. If there is no majority in opposition, the new rates automatically kick in.
According to guidelines, the letter must also include a statement that it is a protest against the proposed fee that is the subject of the June 13 Los Altos City Council public hearing; as well as identification of the assessor parcel number, street address or utility account number of the parcel.
Although the city is meeting the legal requirements of Proposition 218, some residents think officials are failing at promoting transparency.
Pat Marriott cited a lack of clarity and directness, pointing to an April 25 agenda item about the sewer rate increases that did not use the word “sewer.” She also noted a city letter mailed to residents about the increases that failed to show, as the February sewer rate study did, how rate increases would pencil out over the next five years.
“Too scary?” she asked. “There could have been a tear-off portion of the notice to return to the city. Was the intention to make protesting difficult? The (February) sewer report left us to dig through a 46-page study to find the thing we most care about: How much will my sewer bill increase? It’s no wonder so many questions were asked by council members and residents.”
A recent Town Crier online poll overwhelmingly condemned the proposed rate hikes.
But resident David Roode noted: “We pay considerably less at present than the average sewer service rate, and these changes just manage to both bring us up closer to the average and allow for needed capital maintenance on the now 60-plus-year-old sewer system. Also, the regional treatment plant is 60-plus years old and it needs capital maintenance as well.”
Mtn. View enacts hikes, too
Meanwhile, Mountain View city officials are proposing a 6% increase to sewer bills effective July 1. Also on the rise are rates for water (8%) and trash/recycling (7%). Mountain View customers currently pay just over $600 a year for sewer use, while Los Altos residents pay $562.65. Mountain View residents also may submit Proposition 218 protest letters leading up to a June 27 public
hearing.
